Page:The battle of the books - Guthkelch - 1908.djvu/33

Rh About four months later Bentley returned to town and heard not a word from any one about the MS.: before the end of the year (1694) he spent a fortnight in Oxford, where Boyle's Phalaris was then being printed; he even visited Christ Church, where Boyle and his tutors lived, and not a single complaint of any kind was made to him.

On January 1st, 1695, Boyle's edition of the Epistles appeared. It contained a dedication to Dr Aldrich, a preface, a life of Phalaris, a Greek text with a Latin translation at the foot of each page, and a few notes at the end. The whole book (except, of course, the text) was, according to the fashion of the time, in Latin. It was a feeble performance (though for this, Boyle's tutors, and not Boyle, must be held responsible) and would long ago have been forgotten but for the last paragraph but one in the Preface.

'I have collated the Epistles themselves (Boyle wrote) with two Bodleian MSS. from the Cantuar and Selden collection: and I have also had them collated, as far as the 40th Epistle, with a MS. in the Royal